A Neutron Star is still emitting X-rays three years after collision: NASA

The space is full of mysteries and that is what astronomers are trying to solve since long. While the mystery of the universe keeps unfolding every time more and more questions keep emerging. That is what happened when astronomers were observing a neutron star in the space. A strange incident occurred during this process, Astrophysicists observed two neutron stars colliding in a cataclysmic crash, however, it is still emitting X-rays.

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According to research presented on Thursday that is January 14 at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, X-ray radiation is still lingering by the collision even after the incident took place three years ago. Actually, Astrophysicists observed the merger of two neutron stars colliding in a cataclysmic crash on August 17, 2017. During this occurring also the scientists detected a gravitational-wave chirp identified by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on Earth and a massive burst of different lights. However, most interestingly the X-rays observed at the location of 130 million light-years from Earth began to fade away in less than six months after the merger's discovery. However, the X-ray is still lingering in the space. 

Image ~ NASA

In a statement to Space.com, Eleonora Troja, an astrophysicist at the University of Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said, "Our models so far were describing the observation incredibly well, so we thought we nailed it down. I think everybody was convinced that this thing was going to fade quickly, and the last observation showed that it is not."

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The NASA astrophysicist also explained that the team believed that they were looking at the afterglow of the high-energy jet of material shot out by the collision and it will fade away. However, at the view of Chandra spacecraft in December 2020, the source was still glowing.

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NASA has two hypotheses for the Neutron Star X-ray emissions

According to Troja, there are two hypotheses which will explain why the emissions of the X-ray is still glowing. The first hypothesis is that the lingering X-rays may get joined by radio light within the next eight months or year which will prove the afterglow of the massive kilonova explosion something scientists have never seen before. And, the second is that the X-ray emissions may not join by any radio emissions. In both case scenarios, scientists will be looking at something that has never been observed before.

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